


Lovers of the Distant Past

by extremelyperturbed



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Drama, M/M, Major Canonical Character Deaths, Multiple Deaths, Past Life Death, Reincarnation, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-27
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-10 04:59:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1155382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extremelyperturbed/pseuds/extremelyperturbed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I've seen kinkmemes about reincarnation and kinkmemes about vampires so I decided to write a story that contained both.</p>
<p>Hannibal is a centuries-old vampire who sees Will as the spitting image of his past love.  He decides to see if Will merely looks like him or is the reincarnation.  What happens surprises even Hannibal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I. Cave of Forgotten Dreams

“You really think that hypnosis will help me?” said Will as he sat opposite the new psychiatrist Jack had insisted he go to. Tracking vampires, if anything, was even more stressful than the typical serial killer. Fortunately, they only made up a fraction of a percent of the killers the FBI went after.

“I believe it can be of some assistance.”

“The only real cure for my stress would be the complete annihilation of vampires,” said Will.

“I heard you and Jack are searching for one in particular.”

“Yes. Every time Jack thinks he’s got a lead regarding the Chesapeake Ripper, it‘s just a dead end. And Jack is the type to make sure that that he’s not the only one frustrated. Doctor Lecter?”

“Yes, Will.”

“You keep looking at me like you know me . . .”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago. The likeness is quite striking.”

“I hope that you liked that person.”

“I did. Very much so.”

“Is it going to be a problem?”

“No, I assure you that my acquaintance with him was long ago. You look doubtful.”

“I’m a bit dubious about having anybody fiddle with my head. I’ve gone to other psychiatrists before and it never works.”

“I think it means that you haven’t meant the right psychiatrist. In any case, if you come to feel that I’m not doing you any good after a reasonable amount of time, you are always free to go to another one.”

Will nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

After Hannibal put Will into a hypnotic state by getting him to concentrate on the sound of his voice and focus visually on a shiny coin, he said, “I want you to go as far back as you can. Try to remember something from before you were born. The very first thing.” It was merely a hunch but it was one that he had to follow up on. 

“We’re in a cave,” said Will.

“We?” said Hannibal, his interest aroused. 

“I’m keeping an eye on the torches while you’re painting lions on the wall of a cave.”

Hannibal frowned. “Lions?”

“You’re drawing a hunt by a pride of them. You have a bowl of black pigment and you’re using your fingers. You’re an amazing artist,” said Will. “I am trying to distract you from painting by kissing you on the back of your neck but you’re irritated because I’m messing up your concentration. You turn around and dab some on my nose and scold me that you need to focus and that you’ll take care of me later.”

“Do you know what year this is? What are you wearing?” Hannibal said. He found this account extremely puzzling.

Will frowned but his eyes remained closed. “I don’t know what year it is. I only know that it’s been sixteen summers since I was born. I’m wearing some deer skins I tanned myself.”

Hannibal thought, Prehistoric? His thoughts were interrupted by Will talking again.

“You tell me that you hope that what you create will last forever or at least long after you’re dead. I tell you that I’m sure that anybody who sees it will admire it.” 

“Thank you, Will.” He felt strangely touched by Will’s description. He ended the session by stating that Will should feel refreshed and calm upon waking but that he would retain no memory of what he had said. 

***  
Later during the week, Hannibal did a little research to see if he could find out anything about the cave paintings Will described. While he knew that it would be impossible to find the exact painting that Will was speaking about, he figured that he could find out the approximate time period and area. 

It was during his search that he found out about the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in France. The cave had been sealed for more than twenty-five thousand years and had only been just discovered in 1994. Inside was artwork painted on the cave walls of various animals including horses, bison and cave lions. It was in pristine condition and Hannibal could admire the natural talent of the artists who had no formal training. He touched the screen that held the picture of a pride of lions that had been painted on the cave wall thirty thousand years ago and thought, We knew each other that long ago?

II. Legendary Beauty

“How is your investigation going?” said Hannibal as he stood aside to let Will into the office.

“It’s taken a truly bizarre turn.”

“How so?”

“The murders have slowed down but they’ve gotten more . . . elaborate. The last crime scene consisted of a rose window but instead of glass, the murderer used carved bones as the frame and hardened body fluids and treated thin slices of organs as the ‘glass.’”

“Perhaps the killer is trying to make something pleasant for you to look at.”

“If he wanted me to have something pleasant to look at, I’d really prefer a regular rose window.”

“How about you sit down and let me relax your mind?”

Will sat down and let Hannibal gently put him in a trance.

“Where are you now?” said Hannibal.

“In a camp outside of Troy.”

“What are you doing there?”

“We’re spending our last night at camp before we sail for home. The war is finally over.”

“I am there as well?”

“Yes, we share a tent.” Will started to laugh, not in an ironic manner but genuinely amused way.

“What’s so funny?” This was the first time Hannibal had seen Will laugh so freely.

“We’ve been fighting for the better part of a decade but I had never seen the woman that helped start the whole thing. You turned to me and said that you had found her hiding in the kitchen then brought her back before her husband King Menelaus and that . . .”

“That?”

“You yawned and said that you had seen better,” Will said. 

Hannibal chuckled at that. 

Will continued, “The woman that dozens of kings and thousands of warriors went to war for, the one that bards sing songs praising her beauty, and your reaction was a shrug. You jokingly said . . .”

“What did I say?”

“That for all her perfumed silks and her coiffed hair and as grimy and sweaty as I was in my armor, you found me more beautiful standing on the battlefield.” Despite being hypnotized, there was a light blush on his face.

“And what happened after that?” Hannibal opened and closed his hands to keep from reaching out and touching his face, to feel for himself the slight rise in temperature of his cheek and lightly brush his lips with his thumb.

“We all got a share of the loot of the city and prepared to go home. Just as the ship left the harbor, you were already pining for the war, the fighting, the opportunity for glory. You were grumbling that Odysseus and Achilles were going to get all the praise in the stories people tell.” 

“That does sound like me.”

Once he had Will come out of his trance and Will had left his office, he said, “It wasn’t a joke.”

III. Gotterdamerung

Hannibal had come to view his upcoming sessions with Will with as much anticipation as the King did Scheherazade‘s stories. Will had already told him a story where they were both scholars in China who had gone to the same school and excelled at their examinations. They both became high level officials working together but had the misfortune of having to serve a king who was both violent and mercurial. Hannibal said, “Please tell me about another life where we were together.”

“We’re sitting near a fire. You made this dessert out of baked apples, honey, nuts and butter. It’s delicious. You’re telling me the story of the end of the world.”

“What kind of story?”

“When the sun and the moon are eaten, Loki’s dreadful children arise and giants come to fight with the gods. The earth will be burned as the last battle is fought. Everything and everybody seems to have been destroyed. But then a new world comes, green and prosperous. The few gods that survive the war gather and reminisce. A new sun appears. Meanwhile, a man and a woman come forth from the woods and start everything anew.”

Ah, thought Hannibal, These are Norse gods. Perhaps he is a Viking. “It sounds like a cycle, a repetition.”

“But everything is better the next time.”

“It is not always so. It is not always so,” said Hannibal.

“You sound sad.”

“It is just a passing mood. Go on.”

“I asked you if you planned on going to Valhalla or Folkvangr, Freyja’s field. You said that it was a given, that you looked forward to endless food, mead and fighting. I said . . .”

“You said . . .”

“One of the people we captured during a raid was a monk. He told me about his idea of the afterlife where after the day of judgment, the righteous rise to be with God and his son. After you heard him describe heaven, you thought it was boring and an afterlife for sheep. You laughed quite hard when the monk angrily replied that God was a shepherd and people were indeed his flock and that there was nothing wrong with that.” 

“And what do you think, Will?” said Hannibal. “What do you think happens after we die?” 

Will frowned. “I . . . I’m not sure. If we don’t simply slip into a long, dreamless sleep then I’d hope that I’d meet the people I care about again. Being alone forever would be a sad and terrible thing.”

“It is indeed.”

“The next time we go out, they’re waiting for us. An arrow hits me in the chest. You’re so worried. I tell you that it looks like I’m going to Valhalla ahead of you.” 

“Do you have any memories of Valhalla?”

Will looked uncomfortable. “No.”

No, thought Hannibal. There is no Valhalla or heaven. There is only the darkness of death sporadically interspersed with brief frenzies of awareness of a brutal world offering pain, hunger and loss. 

“Don’t be afraid,” said Hannibal. “You are here with me.”

IV. An Unexpected Guest 

Hannibal smiled as he walked up to Will’s house in Wolf Trap with his offerings for breakfast. He had made a protein scramble, breakfast sausages and blueberry buttermilk pancakes. He knocked on the door, only to be unpleasantly surprised to see a man other than Will open it. “Can I help you?” said the man.

“I thought this was Will Graham’s house.”

“Doctor Lecter?”

Hannibal looked over the man’s shoulder to see Will Graham walk towards them in his T-shirt and shorts. “I made some breakfast and drove over to see if you would like to share it with me. I didn’t know you had a guest. I only made enough for two.”

“Actually, I was just about ready to go out,” the man said. “See you later, Will.” The man turned to Hannibal and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Yes,” said Hannibal, giving the man a brief and perfunctory handshake before walking past him. Once the door was closed, Hannibal said, “Who was that man?” 

“I used to be a cop in New Orleans. Dean’s my ex-partner. He was in the area so instead of a hotel, I insisted he come over and sleep in the guest bedroom. He‘s worked on some vampire-related cases so maybe he could work in an unofficial capacity.”

“Oh, I see. Are you fond of him?”

“He’s one of the few friends I have. I think you mentioned breakfast.”

After quickly plating the food and sitting down to eat it, Hannibal said, “Are you seeing anybody?”

“Me? No. I’m on the market for the foreseeable future, the far, far, foreseeable future.” Will took a bite of the scramble. “You’re always curious about me. How about you? I bet you don’t have a problem in that area.”

“Actually, I haven’t been dating lately.”

“Why not? Wait, it’s none of my . . .”

“I find it hard to find someone who excites my interest. I know people who are interested but I don’t find myself able to reciprocate the way they want.” 

“What does it take to interest you?” said Will.

“It is not a laundry list of qualities. I’m looking for an undeniable connection.”

“Kismet?”

“Perhaps.” 

“It’s a lot to ask.”

“It’s what I want.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will talks about other previous lifetimes before talking about the last one he and Hannibal had shared. Hannibal finally does the reveal.

V. A Monument to Eternity

“What’s happening now?” said Hannibal, moving his chair closer to Will. He was careful to move it back before he woke Will up.

“You’re washing my hair and stopping to occasionally give me a kiss. I tell you that you wouldn’t have to wash my hair if I just did what the barber suggested and shaved it all off.”

“Why on earth would the barber say that?” said Hannibal, astonished. Will’s thick curly hair was one of his best features. He had spent quite a few of his other patients’ sessions, when bored out of his mind with their prattle, thinking of running his fingers through it, massaging his scalp and working in some pleasant smelling product while kissing his neck. 

“Because only barbarians keep hair on their head. He says I should be civilized and shave my head and wear wigs like an Egyptian. The barber said it’s a lot cleaner, stylish and cooler.”

“I doubt I’m in favor of that idea.”

“You’re not. You told him that while I was a barbarian, I was your barbarian and that you would take care of it. Later, you told me that you happened to like it though you drew the line at a beard. I asked why you didn’t grow your hair out. You told me that as one of the people who helped design the pyramids, you had to look impeccable. A designer could have an eccentric assistant but could not look like a barbarian himself. And you were going to make sure that I would always be presentable by washing my hair every day.” 

“How did we meet?”

Will’s expression turned serious. “I was sold into slavery by my family to a friend of yours to satisfy their debt. Your friend was a terrible master so you bought him off me. You found out that I spoke Egyptian fluently and that I understood the calculations behind your designs.

Will continued, “Sometimes, you take me to where the pyramid is being built and you check the measurements to make sure that it‘s lined up with the cardinal directions. Thousands of people are moving stones and making sure they fit together. You describe to me how tall and how wide it’s going to be when it’s finished but that it should only take two decades. You tell me that the everybody involved is excited because they’ve become part of this monument to eternity. You tell me that you wish that you could make a pyramid for the both of us but that it was something only a pharaoh could afford. I told you that as a barbarian, I didn‘t think that it took something that grand to have a good afterlife.” 

VI. An Arthurian Romance

“What’s this?” said Will as he sat opposite Hannibal at his office. Hannibal was holding a wine bottle.

“It’s a bottle from my own private cellar. Many people ignore Rieslings because they think it’s just sweet but in reality, a good one has a nice balance between acid and sweet.” Hannibal quickly opened it.

“I drove here so I can’t drink too much.”

“I’ll make sure you only have half a glass.” 

“It won’t interfere with our session?”

“It won’t . . .” Hannibal poured two glasses and gave one to Will. He watched as Will took a sip. “How do you like it?”

“It’s delicious. I’m usually not a wine person but I like this.” 

***  
“Where are you now?”

“We’re sailing away from the harbor. We’re going to the British Isles, the very edge of the Roman empire.”

“Why?”

“That’s where we’re being sent. We’re going to be under the command of Artorius Castus. You tell me that you’ve heard he’s an honorable man. We’ve just signed up for fifteen years. Once that’s over, we can get some land we can call our own.”

“Fifteen years is a long time,” said Hannibal. 

“It’s better than starving. Besides, I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“What is the voyage like?” 

“After the first few days, I finally stop vomiting. You make me a tea with ginger to help with my stomach. You tell me that since I’m utterly new to this, you’re going to help me get ready for a lifetime of fighting. You tell me that you’re only doing this because you don’t want to get sent on patrol with me and have to protect us both. So, we spend most of the journey, sparring and sharpening the swords. You tell me that I should always keep my sword in front of me and not show off. You also say that the sword is for cutting, that if I have to use something as a bludgeon or to block a weapon, to use my shield. You can’t stop and sharpen a sword in the middle of a battle.

“I once tell you that it’s a pity that you signed up for so long a service. You ask me why. I said that I could imagine you teaching your son this but that Rome forbids its soldiers from marrying and settling down while in service. You laugh and tell me that you were never one to marry and have a family and in any case, you couldn’t want for a better pupil.”

VII. A Fire That Consumes

“You look more disturbed than you usually do,” said Hannibal. “What’s going on? Remember, you are safe. You are remembering but it is all in the past.”

“People are starting to die in the village. The baker’s wife came down with black spots and bumps all over her body. Then she had a fever and vomited blood. The baker himself was stricken with weakness and had a hard time breathing. Everybody prayed and prayed but the sickness spread and spread. Nobody knew how to stop it. Nobody knew what was causing it.” 

“Are you ill?”

“No but I know that some people are blaming me for it even though they know that this is happening all over the land. It‘s because of how odd I act and the visions I have. They . . . they’ve put me in a cell. They’re going to burn me at the stake. I’m scared . . .”

“Recite the formula.”

“I am Will Graham, I am in Baltimore, Maryland in Doctor Lecter’s office and it’s . . .”

“Eight o’clock in the evening . . .”

“Eight o’clock in the evening . . .”

“Tell me what happened.”

“You try to convince the others, that killing me is useless but nobody is listening. While I’m being tied to the stake, I don’t see you in the crowd. I wonder if you abandoned me because you don‘t want to be seen near me. It’s only when the wood starts to burn and I start screaming that I feel two arrows pierce my chest. As I start to lose consciousness from losing blood, I realize that you just gave me a quick death. And then darkness . . .”

VIII. Without You

“So, after you were burned at the stake . . . Do we ever meet again?” Hannibal knew the answer but he wanted him say it.

“No . . . Not until now.”

“What other lives do you have after that?”

Will sighed. “I was an actor during the time of Queen Elizabeth the First. I fought in the Revolutionary War. I was a soldier in the Civil War. I got shot in the gut and died on the field. After that, I went to Alaska to see if I could find my fortune by mining for gold. It didn’t work out for me. In the next life, I end up drafted for World War II and died fighting the Germans. And then here I am.”

“Will, has there been anybody else that has followed you from life to life like I once did . . .”

“There hasn’t been . . . There hasn’t been anybody else.”

“It sounds lonely.”

“It’s not that I didn’t make friends or fall in love . . .”

“But did you miss me?”

“How could I? I didn’t remember you during those lives . . .”

“But you know that there was something missing . . .”

“Yes . . .”

“You have to know that if I had known where you were during any of those lifetimes, I would’ve come for you. It’s only because Jack introduced you to me that I found you in this one. I promise you that this separation will never happen again.” 

With that, he got up from his chair, cradled Will’s face between his hands and dotted his face with kisses, feeling the softness and warm of his flesh with his lips and hands. 

IX. Revelation

When Will opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a bed in a straight jacket and his legs manacled at the ankles. His mind felt crushed underneath an avalanche of memories that he thought couldn‘t possibly be real. “What’s going on?”

“Will, I need you to listen to me.” 

“Hannibal?” said Will, using the doctor’s first name for the first time.

“During your sessions with me, you have told me many stories about your past lives. But now I have to tell you mine.”

“Let me go.” He planted these memories, Will thought desperately. They can’t possibly be real. 

“Please listen to me. In the last life that we shared . . . After I shot you with the arrows, I rode away from the village. I couldn’t bear to stay there. After a few days, I found that I was sick. I lay down and began cursing that all life had to offer was pain and terror and that what little joy was taken away in the cruelest fashion. It was then that it came to me . . .”

“What came to you?”

“A dark god, one that existed before the others. It came to me, black-skinned with antlers that rose high above his head and a smile full of knives for teeth. It stood above me and asked why I was not afraid. I told it that I was going to die either way and that being killed by him would be quicker and that he could have the joy of choking on my disease-ridden flesh.”

Hannibal continued. “He looked amused. He said that he could tell that I was not someone for whom his gift would go to waste. He told me that he could offer me eternal life where I would always be strong and never afraid. The only condition is that I would have to prey on people like wolves prey on sheep. I laughed in its face and said that I would have no problem with that because I already saw them as sheep, stupid things that deserved nothing to be chewed up and shat out. He must have been pleased with what I said because he drained me of my blood and then cut his arm and poured his black essence into my mouth. I sucked it greedily. I could feel it burn through my body, destroying the plague. I could feel my strength returning to me. After I stood up to face it on my feet, it had disappeared. From that moment, I knew that I was no longer at the mercy of fools and cowards and stupid animals. However, it has been a solitary existence, full of loneliness. Seeing you again, it was a shock . . . I didn‘t think I would ever see you again and I can‘t lose you again.”

“It’s because of that monster that we haven’t seen each other for more than six hundred years. If you had refused him, then we would’ve been together a lot sooner. Not only that but now you’re something that stalks my nightmares. You‘re not the man I loved . . .” Tears began streaming down Will’s face. 

“I know I have changed a great deal from the last time we were together but what remains before you still needs you, has always needed you. I could wipe your mind of all this, have a normal relationship and watch as you aged and die but I refuse to wait another six centuries to see you again.” 

With that, Hannibal bared his fangs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ancient Egyptians really did shave their heads and were noted as being regular bathers. It makes sense since it cuts down on parasites like lice. In a different time period, women shaved their legs so fleas had a harder time clinging to them. 
> 
> I've never seen the movie King Arthur but it's noted that Sarmitia (where the knights come from) is north of Saudi Arabia so it made more sense to me that before the movie, any soldiers from there would sail to the British Isles rather than ride the entire way there. 
> 
> The Black Death that nearly killed Hannibal swept through Europe during 1346-1353. So six centuries are not an exaggeration.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please see new tags including Major Character Death. Hannibal is very close to finally getting what he wants but things don't go quite his way.

Will tried in vain to get out of his bindings as Hannibal walked from the foot of the bed to the side. “No, I don’t want this,” he pleaded.

“You don’t have a choice.” Before Will could protest further, Hannibal sat down on the bed, pulled him to a sitting position and punctured his jugular with his fangs.

Will screamed. 

***

The metallic and salty taste gushed into Hannibal’s mouth. It was arterial blood being pumped into his mouth by every beat of Will’s adrenaline-frenzied heart. In the six centuries he had spent drinking blood, this was the most delicious and precious of fluids that had ever spilled on his tongue and he let none of it go to waste, no drop allowed to trickle down Will’s neck. It was only the slackening of the flow and Will’s body going limp that made Hannibal open his eyes and pull his mouth away from his neck. 

Hannibal put Will back down on the bed. He only had a small window of time in which to finish his work. He took a small scalpel from his pocket and cut his wrist. Blood trickled out of his wound and between Will‘s parted lips. “At last,” said Hannibal. “At last . . .” He bent down to taste his blood on Will’s mouth.

Hannibal sat back up and calmly bandaged his wound, knowing it would heal seamlessly within the hour. He also cleaned the bite mark on Will’s neck. “Will, don’t fight it. Let it change you . . . Let it make you better.”

There was no answer. Will’s eyes were closed and he could only pant little moans of pain as he stubbornly fought the transformation. Hannibal felt his forehead and frowned when he felt both sweat and heat; Will had a fever. He would have to find something to bring the fever down and ease the pain. 

He went to the kitchen and took out several chilled large gel packs from the freezer. They were still soft and pliable so they‘d mold themselves to wherever they were put. As for Will’s pain, he would skim his collection of anesthetics and analgesics for something appropriate. Perhaps Tylenol & codeine, he thought. There still remained the problem of feeding Will after he woke up. He had a spare pint or two but he remembered how bottomless his thirst was that first time and knew it wouldn’t be enough. Then he would have to talk to Will about many, many things like the future, their eternal and boundless future. 

After he put a gel pack on Will’s forehead, he went into the bathroom to wet a towel so he could wipe the sweat from his body. After wringing the excess moisture from it, he went back into Will’s room and wiped the sweat from Will’s brow and the rest of his face. He considered taking off the straightjacket but feared that Will would find a way to flee with his arms free. 

He looked at the pants Will was wearing and knew that he couldn’t take them off without taking off the manacles he had put around his ankles. He pulled out a scalpel from his pocket. I’ll buy him a new pair, he thought as he quickly sliced through the fabric of the pants and underpants and throwing the scraps away once he was done, leaving Will‘s legs and crotch bare. He wiped the legs with the moist towel and gazed with appreciation at Will’s uncut length and the balls that lay underneath. 

He was careful to clean them gently before putting the towel aside and kissing the head of Will’s still soft cock. He tenderly traced the veins with the tip of his tongue and teased the slit to make it harder. As the unconscious man’s shaft began to stiffen, Hannibal put the tip of it into his mouth and tasted as much as he could, bathing it with his tongue and sucking. He had had many lovers over the centuries but none that he had wanted to touch as much as him. He was rewarded when his tongue was splashed with salty drops as Will came. He let Will’s cock slip out of his mouth and put his head down on Will’s stomach, a smile on his face. 

His satisfaction was interrupted by his cell phone vibrating. He took it out of his pocket and saw that it was Jack. He left the bedroom, shut the door and walked down the hall. “Hello?”

“This is Jack. I was wondering if you know where Will is. I’ve been calling his house but there’s no answer.”

“I wouldn’t know, Jack. He might have mentioned that he wanted some time off but I thought he would’ve told you if he was taking a vacation first. Why do you need to contact him?”

“There’s something interesting that I wanted him to look at. Since he’s unavailable, can I come over and show it to you and get your thoughts?” 

“Oh, please do.” Hannibal knew that when Will completed his change, he would be extremely thirsty. In any case, any attempt to keep Jack from coming over would be met with increased suspicion on Jack’s part.

“I’ll be right over.”

Hannibal smiled. He had fed Jack many times; it was only appropriate that Jack returned the favor.

X. The Sea of Fertility

Hannibal was in the kitchen, dressed in a white shirt, long brown apron and black slacks. On the range was a pot full of sauce that was being simmered over a low heat. Once there was a knock at his door, Hannibal peered through the peephole and smiled when he saw it was Jack. Before he killed him, he was going to find out exactly what Jack wanted to show Will. 

“Come in, Jack.”

Jack walked in. Hannibal looked outside and saw that Jack had come by himself; there was no other car or anybody else in his car. He closed the door behind them.

“What is it that you want to show me?” said Hannibal.

“This was found in Boston.” Jack put down photos of the crime scene. The murderer had created a small carousel and positioned his victims as the prancing horses with poles entering through the middle of their backs and coming out their chests. The victims worked on Wall Street as financial analysts and stock traders. The only message on the carousel was ’Don‘t let them take you for a ride.’ ” 

After reviewing and discussing the rest of the material with Jack, Hannibal found it amusing but not very interesting as it wasn’t one of his murders and Will wasn’t around to feel his way into the murderer’s skull. “Did they work for the same firm?”

“It appears that each of them came from a different firm.“

“Are there any common factors besides type of work?”

“They are white males with an age range of late twenties through early forties but that may speak more about the demographics of their particular industry than a choice by the perpetrator.”

“The victims appear to be in shape. Perhaps you should see if they all went to the same gym. The lack of struggle and forensic evidence appears to speak of either an overwhelming opponent or someone who completely blindsided them. Even if the toxicology reports come back inconclusive, it may be that certain drugs were used to incapacitate them. That is all the information I can give you at this time.”

“Thank you very much, Doctor Lecter. Is that lunch I‘m smelling?”

“Yes, are you angling for a seat at the table?”

“I was merely observing . . .”

“Come into the kitchen and see what I’m preparing.”

As Jack closed his eyes and bent his head over the range to smell the sauces, Hannibal picked up the oversize stainless steel meat tenderizer and hit Jack in the back of the head with it so that Jack’s forehead collided with the range, knocking him out. Hannibal hit him again to make sure Jack stayed unconscious. He dragged him down to the room where he aged meat and put him into a harness he used to hang his prey upside down to drain their blood. 

He put a large tub under the man and sliced his throat, causing at first a gush of blood then a steady flow of his favorite drink. Satisfied, he went out of the room, locked the door and washed his hands thoroughly. He went to check on Will, only to find that the bed was empty. The straight jacket was on the floor as were the manacles. He could also tell by the footprints that Will had not left by himself.

***

He saw a pyre in the distance. Even from inside the car, he could tell by the smell of the smoke that Will was dead and that fire was once again consuming him. Hannibal howled in frustrated rage, that all his machinations were for naught. He could see Will’s friend standing near the pyre, tears running down his face. The sight made him want to throw him into the fire as well. 

Hannibal knew he could easily kill the man standing there then go home. However, the idea of waiting another six hundred years, perhaps millennia, to see Will again made the future look bleak and meaningless, just an endless cycle of killing and eating. After a taste of what had been missing in his life, he could not go without again. And now there was only one way for that wait to be cut short. 

He drove up to the pyre and got out of the car. “You killed Will . . .” 

The man turned and raised his gun. “I did it to save him from being something like you. Now, I’m going to send you to hell.” 

Hannibal threw back his head and laughed. “Hell doesn’t exist! If it did, I would be king!“ He continued to laugh and laugh as the man continued shooting him and only stopped when his head was lopped off with a machete. 

XI. The Infinite Loop 

“Have you settled on a name for the ship?” said Hannibal, referring to the ship Will designed, a ship that could create its own wormholes to hop from star system to star system. He was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, oak wood merrily burning and crackling. On the table next to the couch was a champagne bottle and two filled glasses. 

“I have decided to call it ‘The Simurgh,’” said Will, sitting next to him.

“Simurgh? I don‘t recognize that name.”

Will smiled. “In Persian mythology, she’s an enormous peacock with the head of a dog and claws of a lion. She’s so old that she’s seen the destruction of the world three times over and is one of the wisest creatures that exists. It’s a messenger between the heaven and the earth. Now that I’ve told you . . . You said that you’ve got something for me?”

Hannibal proffered a glass of champagne, which Will took, before taking a glass himself. “The anti-aging drug I’ve been working on has finally been approved for use. Think, Will, interstellar exploration will still take years. You spend years exploring a habitable planet while trying to find another planet to explore. You will have only explored, at most, a dozen or so planets during a regular lifetime. With this, you can live long enough to see as much of the galaxy as you want or maybe even other galaxies. Let’s live together long enough to see the resurrection of the world three times over.”

They clinked their glasses together, their gold rings flashing in the firelight. 

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I couldn't do a Utena/Hannibal mashup (so much of the charm of the anime is the pure visual style that I think someone would have to do it doujin style for it to make any sense) , I really wanted to play with themes like the desire for something eternal. 
> 
> Hannibal puts up a good fight when attacked (his fight vs. Tobias) but at times, seems to have a really strange indifference to the threat of death (Will pointing a gun at his face; his primary response was fascination/curiosity). Considering that in the context of the story, he knows he will be reincarnated, I would think death would not bother him as much as the usual person but he would hate being at the mercy of fate again. 
> 
> The Simurgh is an actual mythological character.

**Author's Note:**

> http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/chauvet/chauvet_cave_art.php The Chauvet case is real. Cave of Forgotten Dreams is the title of a documentary about the cave. 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_window has an example of the Strasbourg Cathedral rose window that Hannibal uses as a model


End file.
